Day 13 & 14 - Oakland Colosseum #29 and then Heading Home!

On July 4th, we made our last stadium trip to Oakland Colosseum where we would watch the Oakland A's take on the Toronto Blue Jays.  We were not very excited for this stadium except for the fact that this was the last one. The Oakland area was not very impressive compared to the other cities that we had been in. But we went in with an open mind. The A’s had not been having a very good season and attendance had not been good either. But this was July 4th and they decided to put on a promotion to get fans in the seats. They decided to offer second level seats for $7.04 each which included an opportunity to go out on the field after the game and watch a fireworks show!  Well, since we had splurged a little at some of the earlier parks, second level seats were just fine with us.

The view of Oakland Colosseum from the parking lot.

Trey and Tate view from our seats.

Not a bad view for $7.04 (July 4th Promo) each!

The Oakland Colosseum is one of the oldest parks in the MLB and we were not expecting a whole lot, but I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.  Even though it was old and very big (it supposedly sits more people than any other stadium at over 56,000) I thought it was a pretty neat place.  Of course it was very dated and kind of stuck in the 1970s, I thought there was a good view of the field from just about anywhere.  I know this because in about the 5th inning we moved up to the third level (to get away from the crowd which finally started coming in to get ready for the fireworks).  Oakland fans, even though there were not many, like all other fans are very passionate about their team, which I could appreciate.  The attendance was probably around 30,000 due to the fireworks show coming up after the game (they had been averaging around 5,000).

The game was exciting as the A's played very well and went on to win, maybe because the extra fans had them motivated.  And so after the game, we headed down to get ready to go out onto the field to watch fireworks.  I have to say, anytime I can get out on to a Major League field, I get pretty excited.  I get that Ray Kinsela feeling wondering "is this heaven?", but very quickly I realized that, "no, we were still in Oakland!

We go to see the A's win which did not happen a lot this season.

The field is named after Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson who played there a number of years.

The fans pouring onto the field after the game to see fireworks.

The fireworks show was very good!  It was set to patriotic music and the crowd was into it and I thought, what a great way to end our trip.  So after the show, we headed out to find our car and then we made the 25 minute drive to the airport for the trip home.

We had a early morning flight out of San Francisco the next day so we decided to spend the night in the airport which seemed like a good idea at the time.  Looking back on it, I would not advise that as there are not many comfortable location inside an airport.

But that did not spoil the trip by any means.  The West Coast trip was a great adventure.  We had gotten to see so many iconic places and, as a whole, might have been one of the best stadium trips we've been on.  So as far as MLB stadiums go, 29 down.  1 to go - Seattle.  That would be the plan for next year.  We will have to do something to make that trip extra special.  Top it off with an Alaska Cruise maybe?  To be continued...

Day 12 - Golden Gate Bridge and The Pacific Coastline

On Sunday, we decided to take some time and drive around the area surrounding San Francisco to see some of the most popular sites.  Our first destination was to go the Golden Gate Bridge.  We had to drive through the streets of San Francisco to be able to cross the bridge.  We got to see some of the famous hillside streets that San Fran is known for and made our way across the bridge to the Golden Gate Park to take some pics and then had to come back across to make our way down the Pacific Coastline that we were anxious to see.

After seeing the Golden Gate bridge, we headed back south toward Highway 1 down through Pacifica, Half-Moon Bay and into Santa Cruz.  Wow!  What a beautiful drive!  We got to see some of the most beautiful coastline that I have ever seen.  Hopefully, the pics will do it justice.

The Golden Gate Bridge is quite an impressive structure.

The Boys taking it all in.

There were many places along the roadway that looked like this.

Unbelievable views!

Just like you would see in a movie!

Some steep cliffs.

A beach selfie.  The temps were in the high 60s/low 70s but the wind made if feel cooler.

Beachin'!

After we go to Santa Cruz, we decided to go see some of the famous California Redwoods.  We drove to a state park just outside of Santa Cruz to see the trees.  They are quite impressive.  Unfortunately, we did not see the Giant Redwoods, but the ones we did see were pretty cool.

After we got back, we looked forward to a little downtime at the hotel.  The next day we would be going to see our last stadium (Oakland Colosseum) and then we would be heading home.

Day 11 - San Francisco's Oracle Park - #28

On Saturday, we got up, had a great breakfast at the Hotel Riu, and began making our way to the Oracle Park, Home of the San Francisco Giants at they were set to take on the Chicago White Sox (who we saw play the Angels a few days before).  I was excited to see this stadium as I had heard a lot of good things about it.  So we dressed warmly in our sweatshirts and sweatpants and headed for the ballpark.

Our view of the stadium as we were walking in.

It was a very cool day for July (probably in the upper 60s and overcast), but we were somewhat prepared.  As we entered the stadium, we realized it was Lamont Wade Jr. bobblehead day so we each got one of those upon entry.  Since we were not big Giants fans (and we did not have room in the luggage to tote them back) Trey sold his inside for $5, Tate traded his for an old A's Matt Chapman bobblehead, and Tammy traded hers for a Buster Posey coffee mug.  We kept one.  We walked around the ballpark to see the sights.  Oracle Park is a magnificent stadium.  The design is very unique as you can hopefully see from the pictures.

Tate and Trey in their front row seats.

Trey and Tate looking at the famed McCovey Cove just beyond the right field bleachers.

Levi's Landing in Right Field

The view of the outfield with so many interesting features.

The view from the seats where Tammy and I sat.

The view from Trey and Tate's seats.

We splurged a little on these seats splitting up our group into pairs again.  The boys got to sit right on the front row down the third base line and had a great view of the Giants players, especially former Brave Joc Pederson who played LF for San Fran.  Tammy and I sat in the Lower Bowl section down the first base line, but I would think that there was not a bad seat in the park.

The game went by very quickly as Giants starter Logan Webb carried a no-hitter into the 5th and then things began to unravel.  White Sox starter Dylan Cease gave up a leadoff home run to Lamont Wade (on his bobblehead day!) and then settled in.  The Sox went on to win the game but we really enjoyed Oracle Park.  All of the stadiums up to this point have been very nice (although we are not expecting a lot on the next stop in Oakland).  San Francisco is a great baseball city and we really enjoyed our time there.  The next day, we were going to see some sights around the Bay Area and prepare for our last stop in Oakland.

Day 10 - Travel to San Francisco and Alcatraz

On Friday, July 1st, we left out of LA to make the 6 hour drive north to San Francisco.  We had hoped to take the Pacific Coast Highway but were under a time constraint and had to be checked in and at Pier 33 in San Francisco for the Alcatraz Tour.  This was a little side trip that Tammy was looking forward to and at one point we did not know if we would make it.  So, I put the hammer down and we made it into San Fran with 45 minutes to spare.  The temperature in LA and throughout most of the drive was in the mid to upper 90s.  When you get in to the Bay area, the temps begin to drop quickly.  When we arrived at our hotel near the Fisherman's Wharf, the temperature was in the 60s.  It is a different climate in Northern California in the Bay area for sure.

So we get checked in and put on sweatshirts and sweatpants!  We get to the pier and get on the boat for the Alcatraz tour.  "The Rock" as it was known was a federal prison for nearly 30 years and housed such notorious criminals as Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, and Robert Stroud, "The Bird Man of Alcatraz", to name a few.  The tour was very informative although most of the tour was about the Native American takeover of Alcatraz from 1969-1971, but by that time the prison was shut down.  It is/was a very remote, dreary, and desolate location.  It was kind of neat to get to see what some people had to experience.

Our view of "The Rock" from the boat.

At the landing, you can see the effects of the takeover of Alcatraz by Native Americans in 1971.

Picture of bars on windows.  This would be areas where inmates would work or eat.  They did not have windows in the cells.

The recreation yard where inmates to go outside.

After the Alcatraz tour, we went down to Pier 39 and ate supper at Bubba Gump's (which was where Tate wanted to go).  Then we headed back to our room to get ready for a 1:00 game the next day.

Day 9 - Dodger Stadium #27

This one had me feeling all types of emotions as we were preparing to visit.  First of all, as a Braves fan, I don't particularly care for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that I hate them (although there have been times when that word might have been accurate, especially when it comes to Chris Taylor).  But in my lifetime as a Braves fan, there have been periods of time when the Dodgers were our nemesis.  And then there is the whole Freddie Freeman free agency debacle.  So I tried to have an open mind prior to the visit.  And then there is the traffic situation.  Everything I had read online said do not drive to Dodger Stadium, but our place that we stayed was only 4 miles from the ballpark.  It was just a good idea to leave early (which is no problem for us).  We left 2.5 hours before first pitch and it's a good thing we did.  Traffic was not terrible, but just to be safe we got inside pretty quickly which gave us more time to explore the ballpark.

Dodger Stadium is the third oldest ballpark in the US (behind only Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago).  It opened in 1962 and they are celebrating their 60th anniversary this season.  It is a giant of a stadium and seats 56,000 people.  The game featured the Dodgers taking on their division rival the San Diego Padres, which led to the game being sold out - over 53,000 people were there!  I think 52,000 were Dodger fans.  I was very impressed with the show of support from the people there that LOVE their Dodgers.  I don't think I have seen anything like it in that large of scale.  I could not help but think that it is no wonder that the Dodgers have so much money to sign free agents.  Dodger Stadium is a money making machine!  And 90% of the fans had a Dodger Jersey and hat on!

The stadium was magnificent!  The weather was great with temperatures in the low 70s at first pitch and actually got down into the mid 60s before the game was over.  It was Trea Turner bobblehead night and we picked up 4 of those (Tammy and Tate had sold theirs in the first 5 minutes - Tammy got $20 and Tate got scammed for $10).  The game was entertaining and the Dodgers won 3-1 thanks mostly to Justin Turner's two home runs.  As I referred to earlier it was pretty tough seeing Freddie Freeman down there playing first base for the Dodgers.  And then we had to see another former Brave Craig Kimbrel come in and get the save.

The views of the mountains in the background of Chavez Ravine especially when the sun goes down are amazing.  The food options were quite impressive but I decided to go for the Dodger Dog and Garlic Fries which were pretty good.  Trey and Tate had the bucket of Chicken Fingers and pound of fries.

Dodger Dog - meh!

Yes, we did wear Braves attire at Dodger Stadium, except for Tate who had his Padres Jersey on (but did buy a Clayton Kershaw Jersey T as a souvenir that you see in a previous pic)

Former Favorite Braves Player - yes, it was too soon!

Dodger Stadium

Couldn't resist this one - and yes, he is!

The traffic situation leaving the ballpark took a little while, but when you have to get 53,000 fans out of there, it is bound to take a little time.  We were back at our place after the game in about an hour.  All in all, Dodger Stadium left quite a good impression.  It has definitely launched itself into our Top 5 Stadiums.  27 down and two more to go on this trip.  The next day we left LA and headed up the coast for San Francisco.